'Choice' school program coming to Discovery Center by 2014

Jul. 19, 2013

The Discovery Center / File photo

Written by

Emily Fox

About this series

Springfield Public Schools has proposed a trio of new “choice” or special programs starting with the 2014-15 school year. This week, we take a look at the new options that are expected to be available to students: Thursday — Health sciences academy at Mercy Hospital Today — Science, technology, engineering and math program at the Discovery Center of Springfield Saturday — New Tech, a project-based approach using technology, planned at Glendale High School Sunday — Questions about access raised about an existing choice program.

About the program

Details of Springfield Public Schools’ new science, technology, engineering and math program developed in partnership with the Discovery Center of Springfield: Who: Serves up to 50 fifth-graders How: Applicants will be entering fifth grade during the 2014-15 year and have good attendance and behavior. At this point, the district plans to use a random lottery of eligible applicants. It will be open to all Springfield students, even if they don’t attend in the school district. Where: Classes will be located at the Discovery Center of Springfield, 438 E. St. Louis St. Preliminary budget: Up to $120,000 to cover the salary and benefits for two fifth-grade teachers and up to $30,000 to provide Internet-ready electronic devices for students. The $2,000 monthly lease for the space will be covered by the Hamels Foundation.

Hands-on learning in science, technology, engineering and math is the focus of a new “choice” program at the Discovery Center of Springfield.

The academy is expected to serve up to 50 fifth-grade students starting in August 2014.

“We have been talking to the school system about doing something like this for a while,” said Emily Fox, executive director of the 60,000-square-foot center downtown. “It makes perfect sense.”

This new venture grew out of an already strong partnership with Springfield Public Schools. The new academy will be based in part on similar collaborations between schools and science-based centers elsewhere, an approach that has been growing nationally.

Associate Superintendent Ben Hackenwerth said an assessment shows nearly all of the center’s 200 exhibits, which are spread among 11 separate exhibit galleries, will enhance the existing fifth-grade curriculum. The only exhibits that may not apply were designed specifically for toddlers.

“The focus is science, but it will be a STEM school,” he said of the science, technology, engineering and math foundation. “It will give us an opportunity to pilot that along with the one-to-one technology.”

Students learn by doing. A few of the exhibits include:

• Understand simple machines by using gears, pulleys and lifts to move things.

• Ride a high-wire bicycle to experience the force of gravity.

• Investigate the workings of the human body through giant-sized anatomic models.

Organizers said while there will be two dedicated classrooms on the fourth floor, the entire center will serve as a laboratory, or “home base.” A significant number of field trips are also expected.

The logistics, including how to share the space and bring in hot meals from a nearby school, will be worked out over the coming year. However, the center won’t have to start from scratch. It was briefly home to the upper classes of the Summit Preparatory School of Southwest Missouri, which later found a permanent location at 2155 W. Chesterfield Blvd.

Fox said the track record of the Wonders of the Ozarks Learning Facility, the district’s partnership with Bass Pro Shops, provides a road map for the new academy.

“The success of the WOLF program helped them understand this could happen,” Fox said.

The nonprofit center agreed to lease the classroom space to the district for $2,000 a month, but the entire annual lease amount will be covered by the Hamels Foundation.

The Discovery Center, which conducts education outreach in 33 states and three foreign countries, plans to make all of its resources available to help educate these students. It has extensive experience with distance learning, field trips and special summer programs.

Fox said the center will also gain valuable feedback from having students in the facility on a full-time basis. “Our hopes are that a program like this just continues to grow,” she said.